Joshua was one of the great leaders in the Bible history. He succeeded in leading the people of Israel entered the Promised Land and occupied the whole territory as God had promised him. Joshua was the representation of the young leader who continued the previous leader as successor.

As the successor he had to bear the heavy burden since Moses, the previous leader was a great man of God, who had done so many magnificent things. People would always compare him with Moses. And at that time the people of Israel just felt a great lost with the death of Moses. Meanwhile they had to fight the inhabitants of Canaan to occupy their land. What a great burden Joshua had to bear? But in the end Joshua concluded his ministry with great success. And the people of Israel could see that under Joshua leadership: “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled” (Joshua 21:45). Hallelujah! Glory to God!

Now, what is the secret of his success that all God’s promises were fulfilled and no one failed during his leadership? We can conclude and summarize it as “5-F”: Forget the things behind, Faith to God’s promises, Focus on what God has ordained, Fire of enthusiasm that burns within and Fight persistently. Let’s take a look more closely unto it.

The first “F” is to “Forget”:

“Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying: Moses my servant is dead…” (Joshua 1:1-2).

Everybody knew that Moses had died. But why must God declare it again to Joshua about the death of Moses?

God knows that people tend to look back unto their past. Sometimes it’s good to recall the sweet memories of success, or to learn about our failure in the past, it can make us wiser. But do not let those things behind burdening us and overwhelm us, neither with the glory of the past that makes us proud and arrogant, nor with sense of regret that makes us down and frustrated.

If we let those things behind burden us, bound and overwhelm us, we will be paralyzed and will lose the power to move onto the future and reach our success. We ought to follow the principle and attitude of the apostle Paul:

“But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14. NIV).

The Lord himself has reminded us to “forget the former things; do not dwell on the past, because He said He was “doing a new thing!” (Isaiah 43:18-19. NIV). So, do not always turn our head to the things behind but keep moving toward the things God has provided for us.

“Do not say, why were the old days better than these days? For it is not wise to ask such questions” (Ecclesiastes 7:10. NIV).

Remember, the Lord is very creative! He is never outdated. “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19. NIV).

We cannot do anything with what has happened. We can only take a lesson from it. If we have failed in the past it doesn’t mean that we will always fail in the future. Do not use the past things to measure your future.

The second “F” is “Faith”:

The Lord had promised to Joshua: “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates – all the Hittite country – to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life” (Joshua 1:3-5).

God had set very clear the territory of the land he promised. Joshua must put all of his faith, hope, plan and effort upon this promise: not upon the situation nor his own thinking nor what he felt. Though the situation before him was very difficult and challenging he must not be afraid. He must build his faith upon what God has promised him, not upon what he saw and what he felt. Because faith is: “the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen” (Hebrew 11:1. NIV)

Without faith we cannot act when the things surround us show the opposite situation and condition. So, we must build our faith that we may do great things. God will do great things through the life of those who have faith.

“According to your faith be it unto you!” (Matthew 9:29 KJV)

The third “F” is “Fire”:

“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them” (Joshua 1:6).

Fire is energy. “Fire” here speaks about enthusiasm we need to empower our spirit to act according to God’s commands. Enthusiasm makes us able to carry the burden and gives us courage to face the challenges. We must keep ourselves on fire!

If we as the leaders do not have enthusiasm, then how could we expect the people we lead to be enthusiastic? Enthusiasm flows from the top to the bellow. If all the people we lead are not enthusiastic then we will not succeed.

God wants us to have our spirit burning with fire of enthusiasm. That will give us power and endurance to serve the Lord so that all his promises might be fulfilled through us and no one will fail.

The fourth “F” is “Focus”:

“Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go” (Joshua 1:7)

Focus means concentrating our mind, attention, energy and effort for a certain goal. Focus makes us effective and efficient. When we are focus we will set aside all the unnecessary things that can distract us from our main objective. We will not waste our time, energy and effort if we focus.

David saw an opportunity to topple Goliath that fully armored. It was on Goliath’s forehead, which was unprotected. David was focused on it. So he took a stone and slung it to Goliath’s forehead. The stone sank into the forehead and Goliath fell facedown on the ground (1 Samuel 17:49).

We must focus on God’s will and plan. Do let ourselves be distracted by any other things. Like an athlete, who was focused himself for the match. He would not do any other things unnecessary that could waste his energy. During his preparation for the match he will focus his mind and energy for exercise. And during his match he will focus only to win the competition.

“Straining toward what is ahead” (Philippians 3:13)

“Let us lay aside every (unnecessary) weight, and sin which so easily ensnares us, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrew 12:1 NIV).

“Therefore I run without uncertainly and I fight not as the one that beats the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26)

The fifth “F” is “Fight”:

“So Joshua ordered the officers of the people” (Joshua 1:10)

Eventually everything must be concluded with real action not only discourses. The successful leader is the one who now how and when to execute his plan and idea. Nothing will be achieved just by talking and long discussion without execution. Do what we can do today! Slothful person will get nothing and reach nowhere. He is like a door hinge that moves left and right but stay at the same place.

God wants His children to act according to His commands. His commands are not just a subject of discussion. It needs real act for the implementation.

Joshua was the type of leader who not just talk but to act. Joshua immediately acted after receiving the commands and the promises of the Lord. He prepared his troops and fought bravely to occupy the territory as the Lord commanded him. Within sixteen years Joshua successfully conquered the entire Land, took the possession of it and settled there.

“So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give to their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled” (Joshua 21:43-45).

Many Christians think that they just can fold arms waiting for the Lord to fulfill His good promises. That’s not the way! The Lord is ready to help us to possess all the good things He has promised. But there are some that are our part to do, because God the Father wants to work together with us, His children, in fulfilling all His plans on earth. What He wants is that we must move onward forgetting all the things in the past, put our faith in His good promises, focus our effort and energy to possess those promises, keep our spirit on fire and fight the good fight of faith until all the promises of God come true. God will supply His mighty power to us that we will be able to fight the battle and reach the goal.

“I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me (I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency)” (Philippians 4:13. Amplified).

“And (so that you can know and understand) what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19).